accounts..."
I shook my head. "Two men rescued us. One kept me from going back into the stable, the other one went in right before it exploded then carried you out. I think he's here, too, but he was conscious when the air evac took the two of you away."
"I called Gillie, those men--"
"Weren't cops," I interrupted. "The second one never pulled a badge out."
Collin wasn't ready to relent. "Kane cut me off. I've spent the last two weeks in a sleeping bag outside your..."
Shaking his head, he closed his eyes, repeating Kane's disloyalty.
Picking up his jacket from the rack beneath the bed, I emptied the pocket onto the hospital tray then folded the jacket and put it in the red plastic bag.
"You know, when I was six and my mother started dating Evan, I told her I was running away." I wadded the ruined t-shirt and stuffed it in next to the leather jacket. "She helped me pack my book bag, had me say good-bye to my horse, explaining I couldn't possibly feed Corabelle. Then she sent me down the drive with three different stable hands following me until I finally sat down on a stump a few miles from the farm and started crying."
Shoes, socks and underwear followed the t-shirt as I paused to dam the tears that threatened to flow. Setting the bag down, I picked the jeans up from the floor and began to empty the pockets.
"She showed up then and took me home. To this day I'm not sure whether it was a good lesson or bad." I placed what I had scooped out of the pockets on the metal tray, not paying any attention as I stuffed the ruined pants into the bag. "My father would have asked why I wanted to run away -- she never did."
Not really sure why I started the story, except maybe to exculpate Kane, a man I didn't even like, I stopped and looked at Collin. He stared at the hospital tray like I'd just put a grenade on it with the pin already pulled.
I looked, my gaze first taking in the bigger items like his cell phone and wallet before it landed on what must have held his attention.
A ring -- a woman's ring, with a large diamond solitaire and a platinum band.
"Why did you run away?"
The question broke my focus on the ring. Stepping away from the bed, I sealed the bag of clothes, placed it under the bed then removed the latex gloves before responding.
"Even that young, I knew Evan liked making people miserable." I turned toward the bed, realizing I had answered the wrong question when his gaze grabbed mine.
"I meant Florida." Collin tried to sit up again, grimacing as he pushed at the tray and looked for the locks on the safety rail.
I moved the tray back in place. The redness on his face had faded already and I didn't know where else I could safely touch him, so I placed my palm against his forehead and forced him back against the mattress.
I wanted to tell him he didn't deserve an answer, but that rang hollow after he had saved my life. I couldn't tell him the truth, though. The truth made me feel even more hollow. I had been able to spend four miserable months bouncing around the question of whether the doctors had lied to me in Dubai, but I couldn't stand another day at Stark International after I saw his new secretary touch him and heard the lurid speculation in the voices of the men around me.
"You need another bag for these." I gestured at the items on the tray, my gaze and outstretched finger avoiding the ring. I returned to the cabinet I had found the red bag in and located a smaller, clear bag marked "valuables." Returning to the tray, I started to put them inside until my finger brushed against the ring.
I dropped the bag onto the tray without finishing. "That second man on the team, the one they didn't admit to the hospital, he'll be able to get you fresh clothes."
I turned toward the door and managed one step away from the bed before Collin captured my wrist. "I told you, Kane cut me off."
His strength too worn down to contain me, I twisted my wrist free. "Clearly, he hasn't or we'd both be dead."
Collin
I shook my head. "Two men rescued us. One kept me from going back into the stable, the other one went in right before it exploded then carried you out. I think he's here, too, but he was conscious when the air evac took the two of you away."
"I called Gillie, those men--"
"Weren't cops," I interrupted. "The second one never pulled a badge out."
Collin wasn't ready to relent. "Kane cut me off. I've spent the last two weeks in a sleeping bag outside your..."
Shaking his head, he closed his eyes, repeating Kane's disloyalty.
Picking up his jacket from the rack beneath the bed, I emptied the pocket onto the hospital tray then folded the jacket and put it in the red plastic bag.
"You know, when I was six and my mother started dating Evan, I told her I was running away." I wadded the ruined t-shirt and stuffed it in next to the leather jacket. "She helped me pack my book bag, had me say good-bye to my horse, explaining I couldn't possibly feed Corabelle. Then she sent me down the drive with three different stable hands following me until I finally sat down on a stump a few miles from the farm and started crying."
Shoes, socks and underwear followed the t-shirt as I paused to dam the tears that threatened to flow. Setting the bag down, I picked the jeans up from the floor and began to empty the pockets.
"She showed up then and took me home. To this day I'm not sure whether it was a good lesson or bad." I placed what I had scooped out of the pockets on the metal tray, not paying any attention as I stuffed the ruined pants into the bag. "My father would have asked why I wanted to run away -- she never did."
Not really sure why I started the story, except maybe to exculpate Kane, a man I didn't even like, I stopped and looked at Collin. He stared at the hospital tray like I'd just put a grenade on it with the pin already pulled.
I looked, my gaze first taking in the bigger items like his cell phone and wallet before it landed on what must have held his attention.
A ring -- a woman's ring, with a large diamond solitaire and a platinum band.
"Why did you run away?"
The question broke my focus on the ring. Stepping away from the bed, I sealed the bag of clothes, placed it under the bed then removed the latex gloves before responding.
"Even that young, I knew Evan liked making people miserable." I turned toward the bed, realizing I had answered the wrong question when his gaze grabbed mine.
"I meant Florida." Collin tried to sit up again, grimacing as he pushed at the tray and looked for the locks on the safety rail.
I moved the tray back in place. The redness on his face had faded already and I didn't know where else I could safely touch him, so I placed my palm against his forehead and forced him back against the mattress.
I wanted to tell him he didn't deserve an answer, but that rang hollow after he had saved my life. I couldn't tell him the truth, though. The truth made me feel even more hollow. I had been able to spend four miserable months bouncing around the question of whether the doctors had lied to me in Dubai, but I couldn't stand another day at Stark International after I saw his new secretary touch him and heard the lurid speculation in the voices of the men around me.
"You need another bag for these." I gestured at the items on the tray, my gaze and outstretched finger avoiding the ring. I returned to the cabinet I had found the red bag in and located a smaller, clear bag marked "valuables." Returning to the tray, I started to put them inside until my finger brushed against the ring.
I dropped the bag onto the tray without finishing. "That second man on the team, the one they didn't admit to the hospital, he'll be able to get you fresh clothes."
I turned toward the door and managed one step away from the bed before Collin captured my wrist. "I told you, Kane cut me off."
His strength too worn down to contain me, I twisted my wrist free. "Clearly, he hasn't or we'd both be dead."
Collin
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